Global

Annotations

Gender
AFSHAR, Haleh (ed) (1985)	Women, Work and Ideology in the Third World, Tavistock, London.
AFSHAR, Haleh (ed) (1991)	Women, Development and Survival in the Third World, Longman, London.
AFSHAR, Haleh (ed) (1996)	Women and Politics in the Third World, Routledge, London.
ASLANBEIGUI, Nahid et al (1994)	Women in the Age of Economic Transformation: Gender Impact of Reforms in Post-Socialist and Developing Countries, Routledge, London.
AVERY, Desmond (1984)	Home versus Job: A Global Perspective on Women in Science, UNESCO, Paris.
BORCELLE, Germaine (1985)	Jobs for Women: A Plea for Equality of Opportunity, Technical Education, Vocational Training and Employment, UNESCO, Paris.
BRAIDOTTI, Rosi et al (1994)	Women, the Environment and Sustainable Development: Towards a Theoretical Synthesis, Zed Books, London.
BUVINIC, Mayra (1976)	Women and World Development: An Annotated Bibliography, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington DC.
CURTIN, Leslie B (1982)	Status of Women: A Comparative Analysis of Twenty Developing Countries, Population Reference Bureau Inc., Washington DC.
ELSON, Diane (ed) (1995)	Male Bias in the Development Process, Manchester University Press, Manchester.
FOLBRE, Nancy (1994)	Who Pays for the Kids? Gender and the Structures of Constraint, Routledge, London.
HERZ, Barbara and SCHREIBER, Golz (1990)	Women in Development, a Progress Report on the World Bank Initiative, The World Bank, Washington DC.
JACOBSON, Jodi et al (1992)	Gender Bias: Roadblock to Sustainable Development, Worldwatch Institute, Washington DC.
JAMISON, Ellen (1985)	Women of the World: A Chartbook for Developing Regions, IDCA, Washington DC.
JAPAN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AGENCY (1994)	Manual on Integrating WID Considerations into Development Programs, Tokyo.
JAPAN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AGENCY (1994)	Technical Cooperation Toward Upgrading Technical Levels of Rural Women in Developing Countries, Tokyo.
LIMAGE, Leslie (1994)	Convergence XXVII (2/3 Special Edition on Gender).
LOUTFI, Martha F. (1980)	Rural Women: Unequal Partners in Development, I.L.O. Geneva.
MACKENZIE, Liz (1993)	On Our Feet: Taking Steps to Challenge Women's Oppression, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa.
MARTENS, Margaret H. and MITTER, Swasti (1994)	Women In Trade Unions: Organising the Unorganised, I.L.O., Geneva.
MASON, Karen Oppenheim (1994)	The Status of Women: A Review of its Relationship to Fertility and Mortality, The Rockefeller Foundation.
MASSIAH, Joycelin (ed) (1993)	Women in Developing Economies: Making Visible the Invisible, Berg/UNESCO.
MILLER, Karen A (1984)	The Effects of Industrialisation on Men's Attitudes Towards the Extended Family and Women's Rights: A Cross-National Study, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46(1) 153-160.
MOLYNEAUX, Maxine (1984)	Strategies for the Emancipation of Women in the Third World Socialist Societies, in ACKER, S (et al) (eds) World Yearbook of Education: Women and Education, Kogan Page, London, pp 268-278.
MOMSEN, Janet (1991)	Women and Development in the Third World, Routledge, London.
MOMSEN, Janet and KINNAIRD, Vivian (eds) (1993)	Different Places, Different Voices: Gender and Development in Africa, Asia and Latin America, Routledge, London.
MOSER, Caroline (1993)	Gender, Planning and Development: Theory, Practice and Training, Routledge, London.
MOSSE, Julia C (1993)	Half the World, Half a Chance: An Introduction to Gender and Development, Oxfam, Oxford.
NELSON, Nici (1979)	Why Has Development Neglected Rural Women? Pergamon, Oxford.
NUSSBAUM, Martha and GLOVER, Jonathan (eds) (1995)	Women, Culture and Development, A Study of Human Capabilities, Clarendon Press, Oxford
OFOSU-AMMAAH, Waafas (1994)	Women: Key Partners in Sustainable and Equitable Development, Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver.
OSTERGAARD, Lisa (1992)	Gender and Development: A Practical Guide, London.
OVERHOLT, Catherine et al (ed)	Gender Role in Development Projects: A Practical Guide, Kumarian, Connecticut.
RAI, Shirin (1996)	Women and the State: International Perspectives, Taylor and Francis, Basingstoke.
REARDEN, Geraldine (1994)	Power and Process: A Report from the Women Linking for Change Conference, Oxfam, Oxford.
RODDA, Annabel (1994)	Women in the Humid Tropics, UNESCO, Paris.
ROWBOTHAM, Sheila and MITTER, Swasti (1993)	Dignity and Daily Bread: New Forms of Economic Organisation Among Poor Women in the Third World and the First, Routledge, London.
ROYAL TROPICAL INSTITUTE (NETHERLANDS) (1992)	Women and Development: An Annotated Bibliography, 1990-1992.
SCHULTZ, T. Paul (1994)	Human Capital Investment in Women and Men Micro and Macro Evidence of Economic Returns, ICS Press, San Francisco.
SEN, Gita and GROWN, Caren (1988)	Development, Crimes and Alternative Visions: Third World Perspectives, Earthscan, London.
SPARR, Pamela (1994)	Mortgaging Women's Lives: Feminist Critiques of Structural Adjustment, Zed Books, London.
TINKER, Irene (ed)(1990)	Persistent Inequalities: Women and World Development, OECD, Paris.
TINKER, Irene and BRAMSEN, Michele, (eds) (1976)	Women and World Development, ODC, Washington DC.
TOWNSEND, Janet (1988)	Women in Developing Countries: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for Development Organisations, IDS, University of Sussex, Brighton.
TOWNSEND, Janet (1995)	Women's Voices from the Rainforest, Routledge, London.
UNESCO (1985)	Women from Witch-Hunt to Politics, Paris.
UNESCO (1991)	The Status of Women: Annotated Bibliography for the Period 1965-1990, Paris.
UNESCO (1995)	The Status of Women: An Annotated Bibliography for the Period 1990-1995, Paris.
UNITED NATIONS (1990)	The Bejing Conference and the Platform for Action: Fourth World Conference on Women, UN. Dept. of Public Information, New York.
WALLACE, Tina and MARCH, Candida (eds) (1991)	Changing Perceptions: Writings on Gender and Development, Oxfam, Oxford.
WILKINSON, Jean (1989)	Unheard Words: Third World Women Speak for Themselves, Social Studies Review, 29 (1).
WOMEN'S FEATURE SERVICE (1993)	The Power to Change: Women in the Third World Redefine Their Environment, Zed Books, London.
WORLD BANK (1979)	Recognising the "Invisible" Women in Development: The World Bank's Experience, The World Bank, Washington DC.
WORLD BANK (1995)	Investing in All the People: the World Bank in Action, Washington DC.
WORLD BANK (1995)	Towards Gender Equality: the Role of Public Policy, Washington DC.
YOUNG, Katie (1993)	Planning Development with Women: Making a World of Difference, Macmillan, London.

Gender and education
ACKER, Sandra (1987)	Feminist Theory and the Study of Gender and Education, in: International Review of Education 33 (4), 419-435.
ACKER, Sandra et al (ed) (1984)	World Yearbook of Education: Women and Education, Kogan Page, London.
AHUJA, Vinod and FILMER, Deon (1995)	Educational Attainment in Developing Countries: New Estimates and Projections Disggregated by Gender, World Bank, Washington DC.
ARPESLAGH, Robert and VAN DEN BERG, Jannie (eds) (1991)	World Without Writing and then .... They Write for the First Time, Netherlands Institute for International Relationa, The Hague.
BAGLA-GOKALP, Lusin (1990)	Les Femmes et L'Éducation de Base: Étude Spéciale Pour la Conférence Mondiale sur L'Éducation Pour Tous, UNESCO, Bangkok.
BEHRMAN. J.R. (1991)	Investing in Female Education for Development USAID, Washington DC.
BELLEW, Rosemary and KING, Elizabeth (1991)	Promoting Girls' and Women's Education: Lessons from the Past, The World Bank, Washington DC.
BERG, Kersti and WOOD, Adrian (1994)	Does Educating Girls Improve Export Opportunities?, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton.
BERNARD, Anne and GAYFER, Margaret (1983)	Women Hold Up more than Half the Sky: A Third World Perspective on Women and Nonformal Education for Development International Council of Adult Education, Toronto.
BOWMAN, M and ANDERSON C.A. (1980)	The Participation of Women in the Third World, in: Comparative Education Review, 24 (2).
BOWN, Lalage (1990)	Preparing the Future: Literacy, Women and Development, Actionaid, Chard.
BROCK, Colin and CAMMISH, Nadine K. (1991/94)	Factors Affecting Female Participation in Primary Education in Six Developing Countries, ODA, London.
BROCK, Colin and CAMMISH, Nadine K. (1994)	Constraints on Female Participation in Education in Developing Countries in: STROWBRIDGE, G. and TULASIEWICZ, W. (eds) Education and the Law: International Perspectives, Routledge, London, 82-93.
BROCK, Colin and CAMMISH, Nadine K (1996)	Cultural Capacity Building and the Closing of the Gender Gap, in: WATSON J.K. (ed). Educational Dilemmas: Debate and Diversity, Cassell, London 118-126.
BYRNE, Eileen M (1991)	Investing in Women: Technical and Scientific Training for Economic Development, I.L.O. Geneva.
CAMMISH, Nadine K.	Sons and Daughters: Attitudes and Issues Affecting Girls' Education in Developing Countries, in: ALLSOP, T. and BROCK, C. (eds), Key Issues in Educational Development. Oxford Studies in Comparative Education, 3 (2), 87-107.
CHAMIE, M (1983)	National, Institutional Household Factors Affecting Young Girls' School Attendance in Developing Societies, USAID, Washington DC.
CHLEBOWSKA, Krystyna (1990)	Literacy for Rural Women in the Third World, UNESCO, Paris.
CHLEBOWSKA, Krystyna (1992)	Knowing and Doing: Literacy for Women, UNESCO, Paris.
CHOWDHURY, K.P. (1993)	Women and Education, World Bank, Washington DC.
CLARK, Noreen (1979)	Education for Development and The Rural Women, World Education, New York.
CONWAY, Jill K and BOURQUE, Susan C. (eds) (1993)	The Politics of Women's Education: Perspectives from Asia, Africa and Latin America, UNESCO, Paris.
DEBLE, Isabelle (1980)	The School Education of Girls: An International Comparative Study on School Wastage Among Girls and Boys at the First and Second Levels of Education, Paris.
DUPONT, Beatrice (1981)	Unequal Education: A Study of Six Differences in Secondary School Curricula, Paris.
ELLIOTT, Carolyn and KELLY, Gail P (1980)	Perspectives on the Education of Women in Third World Nations, in: Comparative Education Review 24 (2).
FLORO, Maria and WOLF, Joyce M. (eds) (1990)	The Economic and Social Impacts of Girl's Primary Education in Developing Countries, Creative Associates Inc., Washington DC.
FRIEDMAN S.A. (1994)	Education for All Girls: A Human Right, A Social Gain, UNICEF, New York.
HAQ, K. (1992)	Educating Girls and Women: A Moral Imperative, UNICEF, New York.
HARTEMBERGER, Lisa and BOSCH, Andrea (1996)	Making Interactive Radio Instruction Even Better for Girls, Education Development Center, Washington DC.
HERZ, Barbara K. et al (1991)	Letting Girls Learn: Promising Approaches in Primary and Secondary Education, The World Bank, Washington DC.
ILON, L. (1992)	Fitting Girls' Schooling Into Existing Economic Paradigms: Confronting the Complexities, in: International Journal of Educational Development 12 (2), 147-159.
JAYAWEERA, Swarna (1987)	Women and Education, in: International Review of Education 33 (4), 415-418.
KANE, Ellen (1996)	Gender, Culture and Learning, Education Development Center, Washington DC.
KELLY, Gail (1984)	Women's Access to Education in the Third World: Myths and Realities, in: ACKER, S. et al. World Yearbook of Education: Women and Education, Kogan Page, London.
KELLY, Gail (1987)	Setting State Policy on Women's Education in the Third World: Perspectives for Comparative Research, in: Comparative Education, 23 (1).
KELLY, Gail, P and ELLIOTT, Carolyn M.	Women's Education in the Third World: Comparative Perspectives, SUNY Press, Albany NY.
KELLY, David H. and KELLY, Gail P. (1982)	Education of Women in Developing Countries, UNESCO, Paris.
KELLY, David H, and KELLY, Gail P. (1989)	Women's Education in the Third World: An Annotated Bibliography, Garland Publishing, New York.
KING, Elizabeth M. (1990)	Educating Women and Girls: Investing in Development, World Bank, Washington DC.
KING, Elizabeth and HILL, Anne M.(1993)	Women's Education in Developing Countries: Barriers, Benefits and Policies, John Hopkins Press/World Bank, Baltimore.
KASUM, Premi K. (1993)	Why Not Educate Girls?, UNESCO, Bangkok.
LEVINE, Robert A. (1980)	Influences of Women's Schooling on Maternal Behaviour in the Third World, in: Comparative Education Review, 24 (2).
LIND, Agneta (1990)	Mobilising Women for Literacy IBE/UNESCO, Paris.
MUKHERJEE, Hena and KEARNEY, Mary-Louise (eds) (1993)	Women in Higher Education Management, Commonwealth Secretariat/IDRC/UNESCO.
MALMQUIST, Eve (ed) (1992)	Women and Literacy in the Third World, Linkoping University, Linkoping.
MANI, Gomati (ed) (1988)	Women in Distance Education: Issues and Prospects, International Council for Distance Education.
NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF WOMEN'S ORGANISATIONS AND WUS (1990)	Aid and Women's Non-Formal Education World University Service, London.
ODARA, Catherine et al (1989)	Women and Literacy: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Svenska Unescoradet, Stockholm.
PSACHAROPOULOS, G. (1994)	Returns to Investment in Education: A Global Update, in: World Development 22 (9), 1324-43.
REHMAN, M.M. and BISWAL, Kamalakanta (1993)	Education, Work and Women: An Enquiry into Gender Bias, Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi.
ROSE, P. (1995)	Female Education and Adjustment Programs: A Cross-Country Statistical Analysis, in: World Development (UK) 23, 1931-49.
ROSS, Heidi (1992)	The Tunnel at the End of the Light: Research and Teaching on Gender and Education, in: Comparative Education Review, 36 (3), 343-354.
SANYAL, Bikas C. and COLLINS, J.E. (1988)	Women, Higher Education and Employment in the Developing Countries, IIEP, Paris.
SMOCK, Audrey C. (1981)	Women's Education in Developing Countries: Opportunities and Outcomes, Praeger, New York.
STROMQUIST, Nelly P. (1987)	School - Related Determinants of Female Primary School Participation and Achievement in Developing Countries: An Annotated Bibliography, World Bank. Washington DC.
SUBBARAO, K. and RANEY, Laura (1993)	Social Gains from Female Education: a Cross-National Study, The World Bank, Washington DC.
SUBBARAO, K. et al (1994)	Women in Higher Education: Progress, Constraints and Promising Initiatives, World Bank, Washington DC.
SUMMERS, Lawrence H. (1994)	Investing in All the People: Educating Women in Developing Countries, The World Bank, Washington DC.
SUTHERLAND, Margaret B. (1991)	Women and Education: Progress and Problems, in: Prospects 21 (2) 145-155.
TIETJAN, Karen (1991)	Educating Girls: Strategies to Increase Access, Persistence and Achievement, USAID, Washington DC.
UNESCO, (1975)	Prospects: Educating and Womankind (3), 324-397.
UNESCO (1980)	Comparative Analysis of Male and Female Enrolment and Illiteracy, Paris.
UNESCO (1983)	Equality of Educational Opportunities for Girls and Women, Paris.
UNESCO (1990)	Writing for Women: Civic Education, PROAP, Bangkok.
UNESCO (1992)	Development of Literacy Follow-up Materials for Women and Other Disadvantaged Populations, PROAP, Bangkok.
UNESCO (1992)	Promotion of Primary Education for Girls and Disadvantaged Groups, PROAP, Bangkok.
UNICEF (1992)	Strategies to Promote Girls' Education: Policies and Programmes that Work, New York.
UNESCO (1995)	The Education of Girls and Women: Towards a Global Framework for Action, Paris.
UNESCO/IBE (1975)	Education and Training of Women: Select Bibliography, Paris.
VEENHOFF, A. (ed) (1992)	Education for Women's Development in: Netherlands Vena Journal 4 (1) (special issue).
WEXLER, Philip (ed) (1989)	Sociology of Education 62 (1) (Special Edition on Gender and Education).
WHARTON, Mandy (1982)	Women and Education: a Comparative Bibliography, in: Compare 12 (1), 67-70.
WIGG, David (1994)	In a Class of Their Own: A Look at the Campaign Against Female Illiteracy, World Bank, Washington DC.
WORLD BANK (1996)	Leveling the Playing field: Giving Girls an Equal Chance for Basic Education - Three Countries' Efforts, Washington DC.
WYATT, K. (1991)	Determinants of Gender Disparity in Education in the Developing World: A Broad Perspective with Specific Implications for Policy Strategy and Development, UNICEF, New York.

Annotations

ACKER, S. et al (1984) World Yearbook of Education 1984: Women and Education, Kogan Page, London.

The articles on gender and education in this collection cover both developed and developing countries but there are useful case-studies on Jamaica (Hamilton and Leo-Rhynie), Malaysia (Fatimah Hamid Don), Egypt (Cynthia Nelson), and India (Carolyn Elliott). Two more general articles on aspects of gender and education in developing countries are particularly interesting. Maxine Molyneux, writing in 'Strategies for the emancipation of women in Third World socialist societies', (p. 268-278), shows how women's legal, economic and social position has been improved in socialist states such as China, Cuba, Democratic Yemen or Soviet Central Asia, even though they have not yet attained full equality with men. Where a state is committed to planned economic development and there is a comparatively high level of social welfare, employment opportunities for women are more likely to be developed. However, "For socialist states, the emancipation of women is not so much a goal in itself but is, rather, pursued chiefly insofar as it contributes to the achievement of the wider goals of economic development and socialist reconstruction", (p. 270). The pre-revolutionary social order is seen by socialist states as an obstacle to economic development and social reform. They see women's importance in the period of social and economic transformation as helping to achieve three goals

- to extend political support

Women need to be drawn into political activity so that, politicised, they will cooperate in the process of social transformation. Their politicization challenges ancient customs and carries the revolution into the heart of the family.

- To increase and improve the labour supply

Once familial constraints are eased, women form a large reserve of potential employees or voluntary workers.

- to reconstruct the family

"When revolutionary governments outlaw institutions such as polygamy, the bride-price, child marriage, and discrimination against women in property settlements, they are not doing so only to emancipate women, but also to hasten the disappearance of the pre-existing social order as a whole," (p. 272).

The two main policies usually pursued are family reform and the expansion of female educational opportunities. Although these bring about rapid change, the family remains a locus of inequality between the sexes - women are still responsible for housework and childcare, while being expected to participate fully in wage employment and political life. Women tend to have lower paid jobs too.

As Molyneux says - "legal reforms and Party proclamations will not, in themselves, suffice to enable women to attain equality with men," (p. 276).

The second article, Gail Kelly's 'Women's access to education in The Third World: myths and realities', (p. 82-89) is important in that it questions the assumptions that it is social background, cultural and religious milieu and the level of economic development in a country that influence women's access to education. Such assumptions lead to the view that women's access to schooling is independent of government policy towards women's education and school provision. Kelly argues that the greatest factor influencing female access to education is whether schooling is made available and accessible and what type of schooling is offered. These factors are matters of public policy and "therefore amenable to change," (p. 82).

AFSHAR, Haleh (ed) (1996) Women and Politics in the Third World, Routledge, London and New York.

The editor of this book is a distinguished academic in the field of gender and development, and gender studies in general, and it is therefore no surprise to find this excellent addition to her range of publications. It adds a strong element to the literature in respect of the contribution of political science to the study of this area of enquiry.

While recognising in the introduction of this book the increased recognition of women's contribution to other dimensions of the development process, the editor makes a strong initial case for greater acknowledgment of their increasing role in the political arena at various levels. The fact that relatively few women even now are evident in positions of high power and leadership, especially in the West, leads to the generally Western-centred academic analysis of politics, ignoring women in developing countries and leaving them on the periphery of the discourse. As Afshar puts it: "Western feminisms negated Third World women's choices of paths of political activism which used the local prevalent ideologies and were often located within religious or maternal discourses".

So the object of this collection is to "bring Third World women to the centre of the political analysis, "and to illustrate that, "Their forms of negotiation with the state must not be equated with weakness nor should their strategies be classified as either temporary or unimportant." Contributions to this volume fall into two categories: those that are global or regional, and those that are country specific. The first, comprising four chapters includes three broad analyses of roles played by women in the Third World political arena, while the fourth concentrates on their resistance to authoritarianism in Latin America and South Asia. The country-specific chapters therefore form the majority of the book, but concentrate on just four cases, three of which are from Asia with two chapters each (China, Iran and Palestine), leaving the remaining chapters to a Nicaraguan subject.

The quality of the contributions is everywhere of a high order and sub-themes range across a number of issues, including: the politics of aid (Nicaragua); the politics of reform (China); fertility behaviour (China); fundamentalism (Iran); constraint (Iran); the national struggle (Palestine); the Intifada (Palestine). Given the title, the absence of African discussion, except in the global papers to some extent, is unfortunate and renders the title somewhat misleading. South Asia - the other major poverty zone - is also hardly represented.

Nonetheless, some of the excellent discussions have possibilities for generalising across the Third World, and in any case, the main objective is to point up the political dimension, and the significant involvement in it by many women in developing countries.

BAGLA-GOKALP, Lusin (1990) Les femmes et l'éducation de base. Étude spéciale pour la conférence mondial sur l'éducation pour tous, Thaïlande mars 1990 UNESCO, Paris.

Chapter 1 of this wide-ranging survey examines the arguments for women's rights to education. The impact of female education on birth-rates, for example, is discussed, with evidence of the disparity between the experiences of various parts of the world and the contributory influence of numerous other social factors, apart from education. The "inter-generational effect" of women's education is examined in terms of the well-being and health of children, their cognitive development, and their schooling (particularly that of girls). Chapter 2 La Situation des femmes dans l'éducation de base is a good source of facts and figures on literacy rates for women and girls, the impact of world economic recession on basic education, and drop-out and wastage. Chapter 3 summarises various projects on girls' education in a variety of countries.

Chapter 4 Les facteurs qui influencent la scolarité is a substantial study of the following factors:

socio-economic and cultural constraints

- poverty
- early marriage
- locus of authority
- control of sexuality
- family systems (eg patrilocal)
- sexual division of labour

Problems of infrastructure and services

- access (roads, transport)
- buildings
- incomplete educational systems
- teachers (supply and quality)
- lack of single-sex schools for girls

Inappropriate types of education

Inequalities within education itself

The final chapter makes a series of suggestions for possible action and intervention to improve girls' chances in education. The author points out that central political change is usually ineffective because of regionally disparity and that equally changes at school level alone are insufficient to ensure real progress. A pluridimensional and integrated approach is needed. Firstly, quality education adapted to the environment should be the aim: good quality buildings and resources should be provided in rural areas, systems with multiple entry points and opportunities to catch up should be developed and national policy on education should be flexible in local circumstances. "Une politique participatoire" should involve villages in the building of schools and planning curriculum and materials to fit in with community development. Non-formal education should be part of community, development programmes.

There is a need to improve the image of the school (a school building should reflect its importance) and to develop a climate of security and confidence, especially as far as women teachers in rural areas are concerned. Motivating and convincing parents is also essential. Girls' education should be encouraged by adapting to parental wishes, providing for example single-sex education if this is what is wanted. To encourage poorer parents to send their girls to school, not only must the fee problem be removed but indirect costs need to be considered: where girls would otherwise be looking after younger siblings, pre-school provision and family allowances can both help. It is important too to make girls feel at ease within the school environment. The provision of separate toilets, awareness-training for teachers, the revision of sex-stereotyped textbooks and the introduction of female role-models into school would all help. Resources need to be equitably shared so that boarding places and scholarships are available to girls as well as boys. Job discrimination laws and good careers advice are needed to provide equality of opportunity in the jobs market.

BOWN, Lalage (1990), Preparing the Future: Women, Literacy and Development, Actionaid, Chard, UK.

This is a report prepared in order to focus attention on the impact of female literacy on human development and the participation of literate women in change. As the author puts it: "The main threads of the enquiry have been the effect of literacy on women's preparation for the future and on their capacity to emerge from being the shadows of other people."

It is necessary for the concept of literacy to be examined, and it is clearly explained that literacy is not a single unified competence, nor is it a fixed measurable achievement. Nonetheless, it is possible to recognise illiteracy and it would appear to be a growing problem overall, and with the gap between males and females widening to the further disadvantage of the latter. In order to get closer to the realities, a number of case studies are examined, especially to ascertain what kind of returns might be expected from an improvement in female literacy rates. Such returns are discussed in respect of social effects (increased participation in education and health initiatives); economic effects (greater capacity to mobilise credit and participate in business initiatives), personal effects (greater influence on family decisions and willingness to participate in community activity). It is recommended that the female dimension should be highlighted in development projects funded by multilateral and bilateral donors, and that popular, or basic education be promoted. The issue of self-realisation and self-belief is central to any improvement that may be enjoyed. All these matters are well illustrated with detailed reference to field examples and experiences from Asia, Africa and Latin America. These cases are interwoven within the thematic chapters and thus relate well to theoretical considerations.

Despite the evidence collected and reported on here, the author concludes that there is still a great deal to be discovered. For example: does literacy have an impact on the life-expectancy of mothers? how far is literacy an ingredient in the sustainability of women's economic ventures? how far could women's literacy improve agriculture in countries where women play a large part in farming? what effect does literacy have on women's budgeting and spending patterns/ how does literacy affect women's care for the environment? what is the interaction between schooled women and women gaining literacy in adulthood in movements for social change? Much of the existing evidence of some progress is based on short term, small scale project outcomes, but the more important dimension is the longer term. More research is needed, but at least there is widespread evidence of the significance of literacy for development, and in particular of female literacy.

KING, Elizabeth M and Hill, M. Anne (1993), Women's Education in Developing Countries: Barriers, Benefits and Policies, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London.

This book examines the education of women in developing countries from an economic perspective, both in terms of the then current situation and in terms of prospects for the future. The Foreward by Lawrence Summers, who has also examined this issue and is listed in this bibliography, contains telling introductory statistics about the 100 million or so "missing women" who in effect do not survive the rigours of the Third World. As he puts it: "Whereas women comprise 52.5 percent of the population in the industrial world, they account for only 51 per cent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa, less than 48 per cent in East Asia, and less than 47 per cent in South Asia".

Such a situation correlates with indications surrounding the issue of educational disadvantage: that is to say, poorer cultures tend to view girls as less valuable than boys in that they may be less capable to perform physical labour - and yet they are called upon to do exactly that.

There are eight chapters. The first two comprise an overview of women's education in developing countries, and an analysis of the returns to women's education. These are followed by five regional chapters: Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia and East Asia. All contain detailed data on the economic and educational condition of their respective regions, and polices implemented in respect of the education of women and girls. The final chapter concentrates on lessons to be had from the experiences outlined before and selects a number of desirable aims: expanding access to schools; providing culturally appropriate facilities; recruiting female teachers; reducing direct costs; reducing opportunity costs; increasing the benefits; alleviating poverty; making interventions more successful. The writers conclude that while local initiatives are important and local research is needed to provide insights into the determinants of female disadvantage in particular contexts, broad policies also make a difference: "For example, the more the government supports primary education, the greater the relative benefits to girls because girls are more likely than boys to quit school after primary level." Such an assessment fits well with the post-Jomtien thrust for basic educational development and the likely returns from investing in it.

MOMSEN, Janet and KINNAIRD, Vivian (1993) Different Places, Different Voices: Gender and Development in Africa, Asia and Latin America, Routledge, London and New York.

A number of disciplines contribute to the study of educational issues in international and comparative perspective, and so it is with geography and gender studies. This volume is a contribution to the latter by exponents of the former.

In the developing world today the subordinated position of women is exacerbated not only by patriarchal attitudes but also by economic crisis and the legacy of colonialism. The traditional model for women has been housework and childcare. However, new socio-economic demands and individual motivation have created new opportunities.

Different places, Different Voices analyses the changing lives of the women in the South through the voices of female geographers from the developing world. An emphasis on location and positionality highlights the differences created by place, and challenges much of the feminist and post-colonial scholarship of the West.

The focus on place, with country-specific studies within individual regions, results in a natural grouping by continent of the chapters within the book and emphasises the diversity of identities. The twenty case studies present regional perspectives by Third World geographers on aspects of urban and rural development, household reproduction and production and community organisation. There is a balanced coverage of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania with contextual and theoretical introductions to each continent by local leading feminist geographers.

Many topics covered within the case studies fall within established geographical fields of enquiry - human/environment relations, demographic analysis and migration; others exemplify the broad range of issues as part of a 'new geography' that is bold in embracing new areas of enquiry and methodology. It is relevant beyond the particular interests and approaches of geographers and is certainly useful in respect of development studies, women's studies, sociology and anthropology. Although there are brief regional commentaries at the beginning of each section (Africa, South Asia, South-East Asia and Oceania, Latin America), almost every chapter is country-specific, though in fact only fifteen countries are actually represented. Countries favoured with multiple chapters are: India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bolivia and Colombia.

NUSSBAUM, Martha and GLOVER, Jonathan (1995), Women, Culture and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

This substantial volume (480 pages) is a major contribution to the convergence of philosophical and economic analysis in respect of gender, and development policy. From a variety of philosophical positions the 25 contributors proceed to provide considerable support for the 'capabilities' approach pioneered by Amartya Sen, who is in fact also a contributor. A sense of realism and practical consensus is promoted by the decision of the editors to preface the various discourses with a major case study by Martha Chen entitled: 'A Matter of Survival: Women's Right to Employment in India and Bangladesh'. As the writer of the foreword (Lal Jayawardena) puts it: "The problems of women in developing countries call urgently for new forms of analysis and for an approach that moves beyond utilitarian economics to identify a number of distinct components of a human being's quality of life, including life-expectancy, maternal mortality, access to education, access to employment, and the meaningful exercise of political rights. Even when a nation seems to be doing well in terms of GNP per capita, its people may be doing poorly in one or more of these areas. This is especially likely to be the case for women, who have been treated unequally in many traditional societies, and who nowhere enjoy, on average, a 'quality of life' equal to that of men, when this is measured by the complex standard recommended by the 'capabilities' approach."

The book is structured into four parts, the first being the aforementioned case study. The second is focused on: 'Women's Equality: Methodology, Foundations' and includes discussion of, for example; human capabilities, development elites, justice, pragmatism, democracy and rationality, cultural complexity and moral interdependence. The third has to do with: 'Women's Equality: Justice, Law and Reason', comprising contributions on gender inequality and theories of justice; inequalities and cultural context; gender, caste and law; emotions and women's capabilities. Finally, part four takes on 'Regional Perspectives' with examples from China, Mexico, India and Nigeria. So the volume as a whole contributes in a balanced way as across the major components of the developing world and adds greatly to the ongoing work of the Quality of Life Project of which it is a part.